Two Old Dudes Fight Video

I got nothing to say so I'll leave you with this video that made my day yesterday.

Hal and Hugh might meet

I haven't worked out... at all.  Surprised?  Me neither.  Should I unravel my long list of excuses?  I could say, "Oh, it's because my husband is gone and I'm with the kids 24/7" but that's just bull shit.  If I really wanted to run, I could go back and forth down the street in front of the house after they go to bed at night.  I've done that plenty of times before.  Maybe I'll do that tonight. We'll see if I'm in the mood.

Guess who is going to be at the Run For Your Life location in South Park?  Hal Higdon!  He's doing a meet and great fallowed by a lecture and I'm pretty excited about it.  When I first mentioned to my cousin (and original marathon inspiration) that I wanted to do a marathon he immediately sent me to Hal's website.  I have to take the kids with me though and I hope that doesn't suck.

Maybe I should get out and run just so I'll have some more stuff to blog about.  The creative well is running dry over here.  Must be that Texas drought!  Right? Am I right?  Ugh.  Ok, I'm done now.

P.S.  Sometimes I spell fallowed with an "a" and sometime I spell followed with an "o" and spell check never underlines either of them.  Someone please explain this to me.  I have no idea which is the correct spelling of f#llow.

-Hugh Jass

Reality Bat

I went for a really short and almost pointless 2 mile run(ish) this morning.  I wasn't in the mood.  I didn't want to go out there at all, but I had some frustration and mild anxiety to work out.  It helped a little, I guess.

We dropped Brad off at the airport a few hours ago and he will be gone until the 11th, then we move on the 17th.  It was like being hit in the face with a reality bat.  It's here and it's happening now.

The airport was crowded and crazy.  I wanted to get out of my car and hit some other people in the face with a bat.

I just got my first credit card in almost 10 years.  I'm a little afraid of it.  Brad and I were both reckless and irresponsible in our youth, thus we both screwed up our first credit cards.  I think Brad got his card in the mail and went straight out to buy his truck a new set of "rims".  "20's" at that.  It looked almost exactly like this.  It was lowered like that too, with those air bags that make it go up an down.  I'm not sure if he's still proud of that time in his life.

  For many years we couldn't get credit cards because of our history, but I think it turned out to be a bit of a blessing.  For a long time, our mortgage was the only debt we had since we shared one paid off vehicle.  Even after our credit cleared up enough that we could get cards, we opted not to.  With Brad's new job he'll be traveling and getting reimbursed for a lot of expenses and it makes more sense to use a credit card.  Plus, it's good for our credit (if we can keep from being dumb asses).

-Hugh Jass amounts of debt

I can't wait to make my gut explode!

First off, I'm thankful for friends that we've been able have fantastic Thanksgivings with over the last 3 years!  3 years, 3 different groups of friends, all our families away from home.  I especially loved the McLouglin family Whiskey Sour tradition.  Damn, I should have gotten the makings for it this year!  This year it's wine with Denise!  I can't wait!

I'm also thankful for awesome husband's sixth sense for food.  Ever since his grandmother passed away he has taken over as maker of the infamous chicken dressing and giblet gravy.  It should be noted that I always disliked stuffing/dressing until my first Taylor Thanksgiving when I tasted Juanita's heavenly concoction.  Brad makes it exactly as she did.  The incredible thing is that last night I asked him if she had shown him to make these recipes and he said not really.  He said he watched her a little bit the last couple of years she was around, but he just "went off flavor".  Crazy.  Last night I assisted in food prep and begged Brad to just let me bake the smallest dish of dressing so I could have it for breakfast this morning (aka Thanksgiving crack) but he said no. :(  Oh, well.  I'll eat that entire dish by myself this afternoon!

Have a great holiday and eat until your gut explodes!

-Hugh Jass

Badass comment section

Just trying to fix my comment section so it will be badass and I can reply to people like Colorado Gal.  It worked on my last post but then I commented from my phone (using the mobile template) and it reverted back to the old comment section.  But then I went and changed the mobile template from "default" to "custom", soooo... maybe that will make it work?  I guess we'll see.  I hope this post has been captivating and life changing.  Here's a picture for good measure.

-Hugh Jass tech moron 

Lazy lady

I haven't run in quite a while.  I keep saying I will... but I don't.  Sure, we've been really busy with getting ready to move, but I have definitely had my opportunities.  My husband even went for a 7 mile run the other day.  That's the furthest he has ever run!  What world do we live in where my meat eating, beer drinking, social smoker husband is out doing me?!  He's even been the one to lecture ME about food choices.  WTF?  We're in a Twilight zone, but not the kind with sexy vampires that everyone goes crazy about.

On the bright side, I think packing is going really well.  Actually, better than it ever has before.  I'm making a lot of progress with the "hidden items".  Meaning, I usually pack up all the things that are in plain sight, like pictures and shelves, only to later be overwhelmed by all the things hidden in cabinets and closets.  I have half of the kitchen already done which I believe to be the hardest considering all the glass that has to be wrapped.  I also packed up all clothing that definitely won't be used in the next three weeks.  That leaves me with 3 shirts and 2 pairs of jeans.  Pretty much.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving!  You would have forgotten had I not mentioned it.  Brad will be making his granny's green bean casserole and dressing(<<My fave!) tonight, then tomorrow after he volunteers at IKEA Charlotte's soup kitchen (I just want to say how great it is that IKEA chose to give back to the community on the holiday vs staying open to make extra money like some other aforementioned retailers) we'll head over to our friends house for mass food consumption.

Hope you all have a great holiday!

-Hugh Jass

Why I Hate Black Friday

Well, it should be obvious.  My husband works in retail and so did I for many years (still do part time).

Part I: The One Uppers

 It use to be that black Friday was just a busy, shitty day at work and since all hands were on deck, traveling to see family more than a half day away was out of the question.  But every year it has become more than just a shitty, long, busy day at work dealing with insane people who on any other day would be completely sane.  Every year, stores have been one upping each other and opening a little earlier and a little earlier.  Now there are many stores that just aren't closing on Thanksgiving at all.  The worst that I have heard of is Old Navy.  We were shopping there earlier today and received a flyer in our bag that said they would A) be open on Thanksgiving and then B) reopen at midnight that night for black Friday.  That right there tells me what they think of their staff and I will no longer be shopping there.

Luckily, IKEA gives a shit about all of their coworkers, especially at the store level, and I can't foresee them ever remaining open on a holiday.

Side note: I personally know both of those pictured above and thought it was funny that their images came up in my Google search. Marla, the one bottom, ran Chicago with me in 2010.


I also think that big businesses are taking advantage of our unemployment rate by being open on the holidays.  A lot of people might say "well, then get a different job" but that's a lot easier said than done.  By shopping on the holidays, you yourself, are voting with your dollars and telling all of the people working inside that they are nothing more than sales people and cashiers.  When in fact they are people who also have families and friends, whom they would also like to enjoy some stuffing and watch football with.  It's a national holiday that celebrates the history of our country.  Shouldn't everyone be entitled to enjoy it?

Part II: The crazies

I think I should start off by saying that workers have DIED as a result of Black Friday crazies.  DIED!  WTF?!  The mob mentality is a very dangerous thing.  If you and 100 people run over some guy laying in the floor, well it wasn't really you who did it.  My brother in law is a police officer in the area I grew up and worked security at a Wal-Mart (the, hands down, craziest place for black Friday crazies) on Black Friday a couple years ago.  He had to break up a fight and arrest two middle aged woman over a Barbie Power Wheel Jeep.  He said both were normal ladies with no prior records who surely did not wake up that morning thinking that they were going to get arrested.  I don't know if it's being awake for so long, or being in line for so long, but whatever it is turns normal, moral, rational people into crazy shithead assholes.  If you are a black Friday shopper and you haven't been in a fight or arrested and you think this doesn't describe you, think again.  You've been up for hours and pushed around by hundreds of other shithead assholes.  I've been on the other side of the counter and I can say that you yourself are turning into a shithead asshole.  It's like being bitten by a Zombie.

So you can probably tell that I don't go anywhere near a store on black Friday (unless I'm working in it).  This year I plan on celebrating Small Business Saturday and I already have a few places in mind.  If you are going to shop on black Friday I ask that you at least refrain from being a crazie shithead asshole.  Say thanks to the employees and don't get into any fights... and don't trample anyone either.

-Hugh Jass

Made in America!

FREE STUFF!!!

Not for you though.  Sorry.

I did some hill repeats yesterday morning and then I worked ALL DAY.  From 10am to 7:30pm.  As a stay at home mom who only works part time, I get spoiled by little 4 hour shifts.  Working all day at the running store isn't that bad though.  I always have so much fun that the day flies by.  Had that 9 1/2 hour shift been at IKEA I  would have been completely miserable and morphed into a straight up bitch.  Funny story, I wasn't suppose to come into work until 3.  I showed up at 10 thinking I was working another 10-2 and nobody said anything to me!  I didn't even realize my mistake until noon.

Even with the long shift, yesterday was awesome!  Why?  Because I got a bunch of free stuff!

We just finished our big event of the year, Charlotte's Thunder Road marathon.  The nuun and Hammer bottles are left over freebies from the Expo.  The bananas and granola bars are left over from the finish line (and there are sooo may more still at the store!).  I got a free pair of Thorlo's to try out and tell our buyer what I think and that "Endurance" head band was given to our buyer at the Expo by the lady that makes them.  She gave us a hand full, again, to try out.

Bonus:  Thorlo socks are made right here in the US of A!  Even better, they are made about 40 minutes away from me in Statesville North Carolina!  To quote their website, "Thorlo's are made in Statesville North Carolina and will always be made in Statesville North Carolina." - Jim Thorlo.

I haven't run in them yet, but I've been walking around in them this morning and I do like the way they feel.  They are thin and tight around the upper and mid foot but  are thick and padded on the heel and ball of your foot.  On my left foot, I'm feeling the difference in fabric thickness (it feels like it got bunched up or something) but I don't feel that at all on my right foot.  Weird.  I'll report back after I've taken them out for a run.  **Update.  I stopped fidgeting with the left sock and just let my foot settle into it.  No more "bunching" feeling**

These socks excite me because they are only the second athletic item that I have found that is made in America.  I think I'll be getting everyone a pair for Christmas.

-Hugh Jass

Double Down

Yesterday Brad and I ran about 5 miles, trading off pushing the kids the entire way.  I forgot how hard it is to push the kids and it also became apparent how much they've grown (how heavy they are!) in the last year.

It was a slow run, but it felt really good afterward.  That morning I was constantly on the verge of tears.  I almost cried during an episode of Parks And Rec!  I think I was shutting down and stressing out about the shit that needs to be done in the next month.  Packing, switching utilities, forwarding our address... I was overwhelming myself.  But after a good sweat, my mind was clearer and I was ready to get to work.  I had forgotten about the pink bag that had shown up in our mailbox a few days earlier.  It was the Veteran donation bag!  Fantastic!  On the bag it tells you all the things that the vets could use which is pretty much everything.  I already had a few bags of clothes in my trunk, ready for Goodwill but thank goodness I procrastinated taking them.  Now I had an even better charity coming right to my door.  But I had to get working because it was last night when I found the pink bag and they are getting all my stuff this morning.

And it's all gone now.

My great grandma was hoarder.  Like, she had bedrooms that you couldn't walk in because she had stacked up so much useless stuff.  I think I have a little of that in me because I get a little emotional seeing my old stuff go away.  Weird huh?

 My donation choices have come down to two questions: How often do we use it, and how much space does it take up in a trailer?    It feels so good to lighten the load, if only by a little.

Bloody knees... again

Yesterday my man and I ran the Pinnacle trail at Crowder's Mountain state park.  We rarely ever have time to do anything together, much less, together sans children.

Since I've have been on maybe 3 trail runs I am automatically an expert.

 See that peak in the distance?  That's where we're headed.

And we're off!

Since I'm such a pro, I reminded Brad over and over again to be careful and watch his steps.  "Your two major priorities" I said "are to not twist an ankle and not bust your face."  Wise words indeed.

There are some areas that just aren't runnable at all.

It's 1.7 miles to the top and the last 0.2 are hands down the most difficult.  It's all you can do to just speed hike it.  Even then, your breathing is labored and your quads and calves are on fire.

But then you get to the top and the view is wonderful.  The last time I did this, it was a sea of green, but this time the landscaped was dabbed with shades of red and orange.  Breathtaking.

We did some mountain top Tebowing

Then, because my husband is related to this person, we took some self portraits.

This is when I told Brad that he was clumsy and to be careful. (Keep this info in mind along with all my professional trail run coaching)

On the descent, I gave out a little more advice.  Don't go too fast and get carried away, blah, blah, blah.  I was worried that this particular trail might have been a little bit advanced for a "rookie" like my husband.

On the way down I was feeling like a deer frolicking through the forest.  The path has these lines of rocks every so often that cut straight across and are easy to see.  You can tell they were placed there.  Probably for erosion reasons.  I was light as a feather, leaping across each line of rocks like a gazelle.  And then... CRASH!  Guess I wasn't as light as I thought.  My foot caught on one of those rock lines, I went down and then slid a little ways.  It stung a little but it was also really funny.  So when Brad turned around to see if I was OK, I was doing a sort of laugh cry.  Brad saw that I was ok, and then went on ahead of me.  I walked it off for a minute and then finished out the run.

Hugh Jass Bad Ass

I scraped up my knees pretty bad, a little gash on my palm and a tiny scrape on my elbow.  How about a close up of those knees?  Hot!

I LOVE trail running.  I don't care if I bust my ass every time, it's totally worth it.

-Hugh Jass

3/4 of a Cigarette

I think when I stress out, I stop blogging as much.  I haven't been in the mood to turn on the computer in the past week.  And uploading pics?!  Ugh!

So let's dive right in.

Last weekend we went to a Halloween party.  I used my wedding dress with some wings as a costume and called myself mother nature... here to bring you your monthly gift.  My dress was made to look like something out of the 20's, you can hardly tell that it's a wedding dress and it's been wadded up in the top of my closet forever now.  I don't have any pics.  Sorry.  Long story short, I got really drunk on beer and coffee flavored Patron.  I usually don't like tequila, but I was already lit so it wasn't bad at all.  Pretty good actually.  I ate a whole bunch of unhealthy party food and smoked 3/4 of a cigarette.  I only smoked from the age of 20 (weird time to start, I know) til 24 so I like to think that my addiction level is somewhat low.  Thus, that loosey was gross (TWSS).

A couple of days later it was Halloween and we took the kids trick or treating.

And then we came home and for the next three days I ate their candy.  I can't believe that I... eh hem... I mean they didn't get, not one Chick-O-Stick!!!

I've been eating a metric shit ton of Quinoa lately.  We've been doing the burritos a lot, and the Thai fried recipe, and now we have added chili to our quinoa cook book.  And it is soooooo delicious!

I deserve a pat on the back because this morning I actually pulled my lazy ass out of bed and went for a 4 mile run.  Damn straight.  I think the time change helped because technically I was waking up at 6:30 not 5:30, but there was no 6:30 traffic.  Make sense?  Fun Fact:  A guy at work the other day said "Remember, remember the 5th of November" to which I replied "Oh yeah, we have to switch our clocks back tonight".  If you laugh, it means you've seen a movie that I have not.

This is all great, but the biggest news of my week is this:

My husband just got a new job (same company) where he will be working for the service office as a planner for new stores and remodeling old ones.  This job is almost 90% travel.  He will be working out of Philidelphia a little bit, and then traveling around the country.  Once a week or so, he can work from a store that is close to "home".  This means that we can relocate back to Texas and he can work out of that store.  He starts his new job in a couple of weeks and THIS means that instead of going back to Dallas for Christmas, I could be going back to stay.

Reasons to hold off moving

• I haven't yet prepared myself to part with the trees, mountains, waterfalls, and everything else that I love about the Carolina's.
• Packing!  Ugh!
• I really love my job.  It's so much fun and I feel like I just got started.

Reasons to get a move on

• Uh, hello stupid.  You're husband won't be here to watch the kids so if you want to keep working that cool job, you'll be paying $2 an hour to do it.
• We're already going to Texas.  May as well save ourselves a drive.
• No need to string this out.  Just get it done.

I went back to Texas for two months in the spring and all I could think about was Charlotte.  As a born and raised Texan, it is a sin to even elude to another state even comparing to the great nation of Texas.  It's just so beautiful here.  The grass is green, not brown.  The trees are tall, not non existent and you only have to travel an hour or two to find the ocean or the mountains.  And I JUST got my "Friend of the Smokies" license plate a few weeks ago! :(  I'll also miss my running routes.  I don't have to drive to go for a run next to a creek and through the trees.  How often can you get that?


-Hugh Jass

140 point holy sh#@!

Congrats to Carolina John on finishing Iron Man Florida yesterday!

I've been fallowing John for a little under a year now, so I think I caught good chunk of his Iron Man training.  I would really like to get into triathlons and (*GASP*) maybe even put Iron Man on my list some day so I've started fallowing quite a few triathlon blogs (Steve In a Speedo, Frayed Laces, and Dangle The Carrot to name a few).  But what I like about Jonh's blog, and you may have heard Running Off The Reeses say the same thing, is that he's just a regular dude who took on this pretty amazing race/challenge.  He has a full time job (just like regular folk), a family (just like regular folk), and at one time he was an out of shape chain smoker (no offense).  It definitely makes me want to be a little less lazy and take on some more challenges.

Most of all, I think I want to do Iron Man so I can get a new tattoo.

-Hugh Jass

Is there a pony tail in here?

That's what my daughter just asked as she walked up to me holding one of these.  Don't know where she found, but I do know I need to clean the house better.

FYI: The other item in the photo is indeed a pony tail holder made of silicon.  Thus it does actually resemble the contents of that package.  And just to further explain, it was a sealed package.  But if it were open, it would look like that pony tail holder.... for those of you who did know that.... And if you didn't know that, you need to shut down your computer and go to a bar.

I've been taking a break from internet this week.  No reason really.  Just haven't felt like booting up the computer.

-Hugh Jass